Sunday, December 11, 2016

ZTE MF79 4G LTE WiFi Dongle Review

We had introduced 1&1 Mobile WLAN LTE Stick, and today we get the new ZTE MF79 LTE Dongle which is for another carrier ALTEL. On the ZTE MF79 dongle, there is the logo of ALTEL with ZTE 4G. Between them, there are two LED indicators, one for network signal and the other for WiFi.

On the back of the USB Stick, the model number “MF79” is printed and it indicators it’s a LTE USB Modem. There is also CE number 0979 and place of origin “Made in China” with the RoHS. The front cover with ALTEL logo could be removed, and below the cover, it’s the inner part with model number (MF79), SSID, Password and IMEI number. And of course, there is SIM card slot, the size is for standard SIM card. Beside the SIM card slot, it’s the slot for Micro SD card, where connected users can share files through WiFi. According to the official sayings, the ZTE MF79 could support the SD card maximum to 32GB. But there is no connector for external antenna.

The ZTE MF79 LTE USB Modem looks like a 4G USB dongle, but it can work like a mobile hotspot. Up to 10 WiFi enabled devices could connect to the WiFi from ZTE MF79 and access internet. Supporting LTE Category 4, ZTE MF79 could achieve peak download speed to 150Mbps and upload speed to 50Mbps. Backward with 3G UMTS and 2G GSM networks, the surfing speed could reach 43.2Mbps and upload speed to 5.76Mbps, which is good enough for most cases.

The functions of ZTE MF79 are very similar to the Huawei E8278 and Huawei Wingle E8372. They all look like USB Modem, but have the power to work as a mobile hotspot. Especially due to the small size, user can take them in hand or pocket easily outdoor or for business trip.

The ZTE MF79 is very easy to use. You can connect it to PC or directly to the power adapter which has USB plug port. Only if there is power supply, it can work as a WiFi hotspot. So the ZTE MF79 could work as a wireless router in a car if connecting to a USB plug in the car. In this case, it would be a good network solution for a car.

After connected with the ZTE MF79 WiFi, you can setup the USB Dongle through Web UI. The address is 192.168.0.1 and the default password is admin to log in. User can setup for the language, connection, WiFi, and WPS. In most cases, the setup is unnecessary. It’s just plug and play. The connected user quantity is also showed in the web UI. The ZTE MF79 can also calculate the statistic for the data consumption. The SMS can also be read from the dongle.

In summary, the ZTE MF79 is a good and smart mobile USB WiFi dongle for daily use at home or on the go. Supporting high speed surfing, ZTE MF79 can also share the internet with multiple users. And no setup and plug & play features makes it very friendly to users. It’s a great partner for network access!